The Morning After

“Okay, what happened?”

Mike could feel Doctor Prescott’s eyes moving from Don to himself. All morning the pair had hardly spoken to each other. They weren’t mad, but there was a chill of awkwardness in their relationship. The experiment from the day before had backfired.

“Look, kids,” Doctor Prescott said irritably, “I didn’t come all this way to get the silent treatment. When I left yesterday you two were on your way. You had a plan, and you were working on it. So what happened?”

Mike was sitting at the table, staring intently at the wood grain of the table top. Don was leaning against the countertop in the kitchen, holding a cup of coffee in his hand. Both were wearing flannel pyjamas, both Mike’s. Don’s pair had been rolled up at the ankles and sleeves, and tied tightly around the waist. Even in the ill-fitting outfit, Mike realized, Don was still beautiful.

“I guess it worked,” Don said, his face flush with embarrassment, “just a bit too well.”

“Do hug mean that you two…” Doctor Prescott said gleefully, “…together? Last night?”

Mike nodded.

“That is marvellous!” The doctor exclaimed.

“No it most certainly is not!” Don snapped, “because I didn’t mean for it to happen at all!”

“Oh you’ll find that in matters of the heart,” Doctor Prescott said, “a good deal of things just ‘happen’ without you meaning for them to happen.”

“That is not what I meant!” Don slammed his mug down on the countertop, “what I meant was that this body,” he grabbed his breasts through the flannel, “just acts on its own when I’m not paying attention! One second I’m having a drink with my best friend, the next thing I’m riding him bareback! What the fuck is going on?”

“Fascinating!” The doctor said, pulling out a notepad from his back pocket and taking notes, “so you are exhibiting **** behaviours. Are these behaviours different from how you would have acted in your old body?”

Mike bursts out laughing and Don makes an exasperated guttural noise.

“Didn’t you hear what I said?” Don’s voice had risen to its upper register, “I had sex with him!”

“I understand that. I’m just trying to understand, for science. This is all new, and the more data I have, the better I can understand,” he scribbled on his pad for a moment, “I’ll just mark that sexual activity would be out of the ordinary.

“Now look,” he put his pad down and went back to staring at Mike and Don, “when I kept the lower brain of Xue Li intact, I suspected that some **** behaviours might remain from her patterns. There was no way around it. Without the lower brain, the heart would stop beating, the lungs would stop breathing, your body would shut down. Trust me, I’ve tried it, and it doesn’t work.

“Now as to the sex, I guess congratulations are in order! You two will have to be convincing, and if you are already achieving that level of intimacy, you should have no problem at immigration.”

“I don’t think it’s that simple, doc,” Mike said, “Don says that he wasn’t in control when it happened.”

“All the better, then,” the doctor continued, “my prescription for the trip, if you want to succeed, is to relax, sit back, and let Xue Li’s body drive. It sounds, as an **** action, very convincing. Why work harder than you have to?”

Don let out an frustrated sigh, picked up his coffee, and took a swig, all the while hugging himself with his free hand. Mike couldn’t help but wonder what his friend was feeling. For him, the night before had been glorious. Don had gotten him into the mood, teasing, flirting, taking him along the path of seduction that ended in an amazing sexual experience. Only at the end did he realize that Don hadn’t planned it, that Don might actually feel violated by the encounter.

“Okay,” Mike agreed, “so we let Xue Li into the driver’s seat. Don, I’ll stay sober, unlike last night, so if things get out of hand, I’ll have your back. Don’t worry buddy, we’ll get through this.”

Mike sounded convincing, but he knew he had an uphill battle. At least they still had a couple days to try to fix the tension between them before they got on the plane.